Page 19 of The Dragon King's Assassin

“Whip me.” I moved backward and shifted up onto my seat. “Make it a public whipping if you want. Let the whole damn palace know that I fucked up, and you're punishing me for it. But I'm not letting you take this from me!” I pointed at his dick as if it were mine. Ridiculous and so very stupid. I don't know why I said it. But I did and now I had to commit. “We were fantastic together. It was the best sex of my life. So fucking good that I refuse to taint it with this. I will not make this memory with you. You need to punish me because I lost track of time? Fine. Do it. But not with sex.”

The Dragon King was the one trembling now. His hands shook so badly that he clenched them, forgetting that his claws were extended. He instantly cursed and opened his hands, revealing deep wounds that began to bleed over the carriage floor.

“Damn it!” I went back to my knees and grabbed his wrists. “Fuck! What have you done?” I took the hem of my shirt and ripped it off, tearing it into two strips of fabric. I rapidly wrapped one of his hands with a strip. “Put away your fucking claws!”

His claws retracted.

I folded his fingers over the bandage and started dabbing at the wounds in his other hand. “Hold still.” I propped his arm on his leg to steady it. “Of all the idiot moves.” I shook my head.

“Locrian,” the King's deep voice rolled over me.

“Just let me do this and then you can yell at me.”

“Lock, look at me.”

I looked up at the Dragon King. His stare wasn't furious or even stern; it was tender.

“Your concern and ministrations, though touching, are unnecessary. I'm fine.”

“You're not fine.” I went back to wiping the wounds.

“Look.” He took the fabric from me and briskly wiped off his palm. “I'm a Dragon; we heal very fast.”

Sure enough, his wounds were already closed.

“Oh.” I started to back away.

The Dragon King tossed aside the bloody cloth, grabbed my upper arms, and hauled me upward. Once I was in a half-crouch, he shifted his grip to my thighs, lifted me again while he shut his legs, and set me over his lap. I groaned as his erection bulged beneath me, the hard line of it wedging between my ass cheeks. Before I could speak, his mouth claimed mine, that hot tongue splitting my lips and then slashing at mine. I grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him back.

Those big hands went to my ass, squeezing and kneading, pulling me forward to grind against his cock. I reached between us, undid his pants, and pulled him free. Long and glorious. Hot and hard. And that scent, the same scent that he'd left on me, rose to fill my nose and send my mind reeling.

Precum dripped from his tip, and I rubbed it down him, massaging him with his own liquid desire. The Dragon King moaned deeply, arching into my grip, and broke our kiss to bite his way along my jaw.

“I cannot let you defy me, Assassin,” he whispered in my ear. “If you do it now, I will forgive you.”

I went still. I'd backed the King into a corner. He had made a threat and couldn't retract it now; it was either I suck him off or be whipped. But he didn't want to whip me. So he'd made the punishment into a pleasure. The question was, did I go with it and allow him to get away with this or stand by what I'd said? What would it do to us if I bent to his will now? And what if I didn't?

I leaned back to look at the King and that's when it hit me; I wanted him. More than just a one time fuck. More than sucking his dick in a carriage. I wanted to be his. Not his assassin, but his lover. And I wanted him to be mine.

That wouldn't happen if I let him rule me as he did everyone else. I had to be special. As different with him out of bed as I was in it.

“I'm not trying to defy you, Your Majesty. I'm trying to keep something for myself.” I tucked him back in his pants and buttoned them, all while he stared at me. Then I scooted back onto the opposite bench, met his stare, and said, “I will take the whipping.”

The Dragon King roared and kicked the door. It went flying off its hinges, startling the horses. They reared before clattering down on the stones. Luckily, we had just entered the palace courtyard and were nearly to the main steps. So the King didn't have far to go when he exploded from the carriage and strode toward the palace.

“Assassin!” he shouted over his shoulder.

Everyone gaped at me as I jumped out and ran after the King. I tried to keep pace with him, but his legs were longer and his stride furious. I had to start jogging so I wouldn't be left behind. He didn't speak again, nor look at me, but when we were within ten feet of the doors to the royal suite, he shouted at the knights on duty there.

“Fetch me a whip!”

The knights looked at each other with wide eyes, then one ran off to do the King's bidding. I stumbled, my legs suddenly weak, but kept following the King. I had asked for this, near demanded it, and I couldn't back down now. I was as bound by my words as he was by his.

What the fuck had I done? I had never been whipped in my life, but I was pretty sure it was a horrible experience. And, damn it, I had a nice back. My lovers always complimented it. Shit. Now I'd have to explain why it was covered in scars.

The Dragon King went into his library and kicked a chaise lounge out of the way. It skidded into a shelf-covered wall, bunching a rug beneath it and dislodging several books that fell onto the cushions. The behemoth fireplace was cold, but heat radiated off the King as he continued to push the furniture toward the sides of the room, clearing a space before the menacing mantle of rearing dragons.

I waited in the doorway, watching him until the knight appeared with the whip. “Give it to me.”

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